We did well enough at Newbury on Saturday with Mount Athos and Cannock Chase keeping us in profit. Newmarket proved trickier to unravel and Stomp was beaten in the Coral Sprint. I felt that he did not really get the run of the race but stuck on well enough to suggest he can claim a decent prize this season.
The pick of Monday’s action is at Windsor and all signs point to Café Society in the 8.05. The David Simcock-trained four-year-old caught the eye on his seasonal debut when sixth at Newmarket behind The Mighty Yar.
Jamie Spencer rode him into a never-nearer sixth place without giving him a hard time. He was slowly away but settled not far behind the eventual winner The Mighty Yar. He also had Van Percy in close proximity for much of the race and the Balding-trained horse came out and won on Saturday. Spencer found the gaps closing when he went to make a forward move while Ryan Moore had a smooth passage on The Mighty Yar. He wouldn’t have beaten him but he could have been third or fourth with a clear run.
We have been caught out before by Café Society after he went into the notebook with a fast finishing second to Bold Sniper at Ascot. Things did not go his way on his next outing when heavily backed but there is little in the opposition here to cause concern.
Café Society has always promised to win a valuable prize and this could be a nice stepping-stone to one of the big handicaps at Royal Ascot next month. He looked a desperately unlucky loser at Ascot l last year behind Bold Sniper and his turn is surely not far away.
Jakey hung badly at Epsom last time out when finishing only fifth behind Beacon Lady. Modernism has been on the go all winter on the all-weather and looks to be bottoming out while Nicholascopernicus was beaten 40 lengths on his first outing. Ballinderry Boy is the most obvious threat, mainly because he is trained by Balding and ridden by Oisin Murphy. Even so, this is well short of his best trip of two miles and Café Society can finally get things right.
Café Society 8.05 Windsor at 6-4 Bet365, Paddy Power
